A Twist in Battle
by kzlovers
Summary: This is a what-if concept for Ratchet and Clank A Crack In Time. This is if Alister was winning the battle in the Great Clock instead of Ratchet winning. It's more violent than horror but there was no violence option for genres.
1. Chapter 1

One-shot for Xannador on deviantart.

I hope you enjoy it.

A Twist in Battle

Ratchet's hoover boots were on high speed when racing to get to the room with the lever to change time. By the time he arrived, Azimuth was already there and had turned on the machine. The general had to be stopped. Alister switched the wrench into his right hand. Then, the fight began.

Blue electric shots started to be shot at the younger Lombax. Ratchet jumped out of the way of a good line of them. When he had a moment of rest, he took out his wrench.

"I didn't want it to be like this! You were supposed to be here! On my side!" More was said but the younger missed it because he was avoiding more shots from the general.

While the fighting was happening, Clank went to check Sigmund and helped him out of the room and into safety.

When the shots stopped again, Ratchet ran up to the elder, wrench ready to strike, and he swung. Alister ducked out of the way. It was going to be a close and personal battle with wrenches instead of guns it seemed.

Another swing was taken but this time, the elder blocked the shot and then pushed back. Before Ratchet could do anything when he became stable from being pushed back, Azimuth took his wrench and caught one of the other's feet and pulled. Instead of falling straight to the floor, however, the general timed his pull perfectly along with kick to the stomach to make Ratchet fly back a little and land on the floor roughly.

A hand held a stomach while getting up. There was a look of anger but determination present on the younger's face. He couldn't let the other succeed. There was too much at risk. However, he knew this would be difficult.

"Why are you fighting this? Don't' you understand what I'm trying to do?! I'm trying to get you your family back!"

The general kicked on his hoover boots and went to where Ratchet was. He wished the younger could see why he was doing this and not fight. However, he would not let Kaden's son get in his way, no matter what the cost. He would kill him if he must.

When there, the boots were turned off and the battle began once again. Alister shot more electric blasts at Ratchet. He avoided most of them, but the last two hit Ratchet. It hurt but he got himself back up. The general was fast, and strong. This was going to be more difficult than he previously thought.

The general ran up to the younger once he had gotten himself back up, and they started to battle with their wrenches once more. This was when things started going downhill.

After a couple of swings and dodges from both, Azimuth held his wrench over his head and slammed down. Ratchet barely had enough time to block but had with his wrench over his head with hands on both ends. The blow, however, made him fall to one knee. The hold was extremely hard to keep because of the general's strength.

The position of the long wrench had been changed, and before the younger knew it, his wrench had flipped out of his grasp because the elder quickly moved one his wrench ends under the other's wrench and pulled up.

When the wrench was gone, Alister swiftly moved his foot to Ratchet's chest and shoved him onto on his back on the floor. The foot moved down to the stomach and more pressure was applied which caused a grunt to escaped from the younger. The longer wrench was then raised up and before Ratchet knew it, the wrench went down and punctured the skin and cracked against the ribs.

"AHHHHHH!" Pain shot through Ratchet's body as the wrench punctured him. Blood could be seen staining the floor. The ends of the wrench were not sharp but enough force had been used to not need sharp ends.

To add to the pain, the electricity was turned on and traveled all through Ratchet's body. The pain was unbearable. It even caused skin to crack and bleed more around the holes in his skin. Thinking fast, the younger took out one of his guns and shot which caused the general to fly back and away from him.

Another grunt was heard as Ratchet tried to get up. He lost a lot of blood from the abdominal area from the holes that were made. Once he stood up, blood was then coughed up to make a pile of blood and saliva on the floor.

An expression of hate was on the younger's face, and it pained the general to see it. Regardless, he hoover booted to the other. Ratchet was not sure if he could fight like this, but he knew he had no choice. He readied his wrench.

Alister stopped in front of Ratchet once more but did not strike. He said, "Ratchet, you need to stop this! Don't you understand what I am trying to do for you!? If you don't stop now, I will kill you."

Instead of nodding like the elder hoped, the yellow Lombax answered, "Not a chance. You need to stop before destroying existence. If you kill me because of this, then so be it."

Nothing more was said. Wrenches clashed and had lasted for a while. Determination had built up in the younger which helped him fight, but that can only last for oh so long. Ratchet was getting sloppy because of the blood loss. Because of this, it was hard for him to dodge attacks.

The wrench had nicked the younger here and there during the fight. Some were on his arms when trying to block at time and others were on his face when an attack to the face was barely dodged but close even to leave two scratches on the same cheek.

Azimuth caught Ratchet when he had dodged his last swing. The longer electric wrench had caught the younger's right ear and sliced it some. It was enough to make him bleed but he did not lose any of his ears. The cut was deep though. He touched his ear lightly to feel the cut. Ratchet grunted.

"I warned you Ratchet," Alister replied, "You need to stop this. I don't want to kill you."

Again, instead of listening, Ratchet shook his head. His abdomen was covered in blood and now there was some blood right side of his face and on his hands. The pain in his body was getting worse by the minute.

"No. I will not stop until you do."

Using more strength than he should have, the yellow Lombax ran up to the white one to try to land a blow.

He was not as much of a threat, unfortunately, for Alister blocked the wrench and pushed the other back. Not enough strength was used to make Ratchet fall, which was the point. The general grabbed the younger's left lower arm with both hands and turned him around but the quick turn had results.

A loud crack could be heard between the two hands of the elder to prove that Ratchet's lower left arm was now broken. Trying not to cry out in pain again, Ratchet bit his lower lip; so much so that he caused his lip to bleed.

Azimuth then pushed the younger onto the floor. Ratchet hugged his arm after landing. He was in so much pain that coursed all through his body. "That should stop you."

Before much more could be done though, the security system said, "30 seconds until total system failure."

"What?!" Alister ran up to the machine some. "It's not working. Why isn't it working?!"

Ratchet sat up slightly and coughed up more blood. Alister looked back at him. The younger then faced him.

"Because it's not a time machine Alister. It's not meant to alter time, only keep it."

The general's eyes widened. He held his face in one hand before saying, "I'm so sorry."

The yellow Lombax finally stood up and he tried to walk over to the lever in a limp. He did not get too far, before Azimuth stood in front of him.

"No, let me." He slowly walked over because of all the energy."

"What are you gonna do?!"

Alister was right by the lever before looking back with an answer of, "Take care of yourself Ratchet."

The general then moved swiftly and tried to move the lever which broke. Because of this, he put his wrench in instead. While this was going on Ratchet moved as fast as he could away from the machine.

The machine was then turned off along with an explosion. Everything went white.

This was a commission I did on for Xannador. It's a bit violent for what I'm used to but I hope I did alright and that others as well as Xannador likes this.


	2. Chapter 2

One-shot for Xannador on deviantart.

I hope you enjoy it.

A Twist in Battle Part 2

Alister moved swiftly and tried to move the lever which broke. Because of this, he put his wrench in instead. While this was going on Ratchet moved as fast as he could away from the machine.

The machine was then turned off along with an explosion. Everything went white.

Once the explosion was heard, Clank had turned sharply towards the room. He was outside along with Sigmund. The two robots turned towards one another before rushing to the room that contained the two Lombaxes.

The door was locked shut so Clank pressed a few buttons, a code, to make the door swiftly open. What was behind the door could be described as a disaster. There were random parts of metal and glass all along the floor and blood spatters that could accompany the mess. A still Alister could be seen right by the lever along with a pile of blood beneath him. Not too far from him was Ratchet laying on his back who was also still.

"Ratchet?!" Clank exclaimed before running over to his pal. He got on one knee once by the fallen Lombax. Grabbing one of his arms, he took the glove off and checked his pulse. A sigh escaped.

"Is he okay?" Sigmund asked. However, an answer was not given. This worried the taller robot. "H-he didn't make it did he? It's not true. It can't be true!" He started to cry loudly which caused Clank to snap out of his thoughts.

He turned towards the other robot. "Would you please stop? Ratchet is not dead."

Sigmund instantly stopped. "Oh…"

"I was just thinking. Ratchet has a pulse but has just been knocked out. He needs medical attention though."

"I can take him up to the medical room." Sigmund offered. Clank nodded so Sigmund carefully picked up the yellow Lombax.

Clank replied, "I need to check Alister to see how he is. Go ahead and take him to the medical room."

Sigmund nodded and left soon after. Once gone, Clank walked over to the white Lombax. Alister was lying on his stomach.

Once again, he got on one knee. He was about to take off one of the general's glove but then noticed something on the ground by him. Picking it up, it was opened to show a picture of a younger Alister and a yellow Lombax by him. He looked like Ratchet but there were differences. Clank guessed it was Ratchet's father that was in the picture in the pocket watch.

Clank shut it. He set it down for a moment so he could take off the glove and check Alister's pulse. His hand was cold, and there was no pulse. The glove was put back on.

The robot knew that a funeral would have to be made for the general. Ratchet cared about him a lot and probably even saw him as a father figure to some extent.

Looking back at the pocket watch, he decided to pick it up and put it on his stomach pouch. He figured that Ratchet would at least like something of Alister's, for memories and all that.

Clank would worry about Alister in a little bit. First though, he wanted to go check on Ratchet and see how he was doing. Sure, the Lombax was alive, but his condition was not good. He left the room and went to the medical room.

When the robot arrived, he knocked before entering. What was seen was Ratchet lying on a bed with a few IV's attached to him. He was still unconscious but moving of his chest for slow breaths could be seen. A sigh of relief escaped Clank.

He walked into the room more and stood by Ratchet's bed. He turned towards Sigmund. "How's he doing?"

"He is not in great condition but he will live. Ratchet just needs to relax and stay in bed for a while." Sigmund went over to the bed by Clank and moved part of Ratchet's clothes to show his abdomen. "He has some deep wounds here but the rest are not too bad. He has quite a few scars and bruises from the fight. Alister did not go easy on him."

"I see…"

They were both quiet for a moment. Sigmund had a question but was not sure how to ask it. However, he needed to know.

"Alister. Did he…?"

"He did not make it. The explosion was what killed him because he did not have as many battle wounds as Ratchet does."

A grunt was suddenly heard. Both robots looked towards the bed to see Ratchet open his eyes slowly. He turned his head to Clank.

"Clank…"

"How do you feel Ratchet?"

He grinned slightly before answering, "Like shit."

"That is to be expected."

Sigmund then cut in, "How about you stay here with Ratchet? I am going to clean up the mess from the explosion, or at least, start cleaning up."

"Make sure to be gentle with Alister." Clank replied.

Ratchet eyes widened, "Why? What happened?"

They both looked at the lying Lombax. Clank then asked, "Ratchet, what is the last memory you have?"

"Hm?" Ratchet questioned. He then sat there and thought a moment. Before answering, unfortunately, intense pain went through his abdomen and he hugged his stomach.

"Never mind." Clank replied, "I will explain later. Right now, you need rest."

Ratchet wanted answers but decided not to push it and closed his eyes. He was asleep within minutes. Clank turned towards the other robot once more.

"I will assist you in the cleanup."

They returned to the room with the once-battle occurred. It was, indeed, a mess. Because of this, the clean took a while. For several days, the robots cleaned while Ratchet rested. Once the cleaning process was finished, so was Ratchet's need to stay in bed and heal.

Clank had been able to refresh Ratchet on the battle and he did remember more after the explanation. After this, a proper funeral had been planned and made. It had been a nice funeral. Ratchet had not broken down and cried but Clank did see a single tear roll down his face during the funeral.

The three of them stood in the room with the lever on the day that Ratchet was going to leave the Great Clock. Ratchet plugged in a machine that showed the keeper. The Lombax and Clank exchanged a glance.

Ratchet then scratched the side of his chin before replying, "I'll leave you two alone."

The Lombax started to walk away and Clank followed him a few steps before stopping. Ratchet then stopped as well and turned towards the small white robot.

"Take care of yourself."

While he headed towards his ship, Clank started to think about his decision on staying. He went to a control board and played a message which read, "The Clock, much like time itself, is a gift."

Clank pressed a button to make it stop. Hanging his head low towards the control board, and making it look like he was looking at no one in particular, he said, "I cannot stay. I am sorry, but discovering my family has made me realize that I cannot leave Ratchet. Not until I help Ratchet find his own. I hope you understand."

Clank had been looking at his father's visual form but Sigmund was the one that replied, "You're leaving?" He started checking his systems on his computer. "Energy output normal, harmonic stabilizers stable. Why aren't I freaking out?" He turned back towards Clank when he asked the last question.

Clank took hold of his staff and then walked towards Sigmund. "Perhaps you are ready to be promoted."

His eyes widened, "Senior caretaker?" He did a shout of glee. He then faced Clank and said "Thank you, sir."

Clank smiled before running out of the room as fast as his feet would take him. Meanwhile, Ratchet was outside in his ship. A sad expression was on his face as he readied his ship for lift off. The space ship was then started.

The top started to close, but before Ratchet knew it, Clank hopped in at the last second. The sudden presence of his best friend surprised Ratchet and caused him to turn sharply towards Clank. They both exchanged glances before Ratchet grinned and left the Great Clock.

Words were not always needed to be exchanged between two good friends such as a duo like Ratchet and Clank.

This was a commission I did on for Xannador. I hope she and other who read this enjoy it.


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